>>47861A flat reduction in maneuverability, or reduced stability so you bleed off airspeed faster during high-G turns, would be acceptable compromises so it's not just a straight upgrade. Simply slowing your plane down would counteract the time limit increase because you're almost always going as fast as you can, especially on higher difficulties. So if you're always slower, that really eats into your timer when you have to fly half way across the map. One of the two hits to maneuverability that I mentioned wouldn't be so bad, because we have flares in AC now.
In any case, I wouldn't make drop tanks a fully realistic mechanic, because that's not something that would blend well with the super arcade gameplay AC is known for. But I would like to see it as some kind of mechanic so the game could have more variables to it. It's why the mission design from 6 needs to come back and one of the reasons 7 gets so stale, combined with all the gimmick missions that force you to play a specific way every time.
